Your Wisconsin’s primary election need to know

Wisconsin’s midterm elections are heating up as the state nears the contentious Aug. 11 primary. 

It will be an open partisan primary, meaning voters choose the party they want to vote for on their ballot. Voters can only choose one party.

With the state legislature, governorship and other statewide races at stake, Wisconsin is just at the beginning of an intricate election season. 

Here’s the recent news on the highly-contested primaries.

The turbulent Democratic primary for governor

Wisconsinites will have a new governor come January as Gov. Tony Evers retires after two terms. He announced last summer he would not seek reelection.

While the Democratic primary is wide open, the Republican nominee will likely be U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany. 

Tiffany, whose primary opponent is 27-year-old Andy Manske, is backed by the state GOP and President Donald Trump. Wisconsin is trying to find a candidate who can win purple voters, given its swing state status and the fact that the state turned red in the 2024 presidential election. Still, the state party will not endorse a candidate until voters pick the nominee.

The Democratic candidates still in the race are Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan.

July made for a hectic month for Democrats vying for governorship. Campaign drops and financing troubles tainted the Democratic field just about a month before the primary election day, creating concern within the party about the future nominee. 

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez was seen as the frontrunner after she won the WisPolitics straw poll at the state Democratic convention in June, but her campaign turned sour after she fired her campaign manager, Kara Spencer, over campaign finance inaccuracies.

Rodriguez said Spencer misreported hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money. Rodriguez only found out about the misreports after she announced a $1 million advertisement buy and just a few days before campaign finance reports were due. Rodriguez dropped out of the race July 17. 

Crowley now sees a surge in momentum after trailing in the WisPolitics straw poll and the February Marquette University Law School Poll. 

He dropped out of the race July 8 to endorse Rodriguez after her ad buy announcement. But when she exited, he saw another opening and reentered the race with Evers’ endorsement. 

While Evers initially said he wouldn’t endorse in the primary, his statement said Wisconsinites “deserve to have the perspective of someone who’s done the job.” 

Now, other candidates have said Evers put his thumb on the scale and made Crowley the new establishment pick. In the most recent MU poll, which published July 29, Crowley came in third, behind Hong and Barnes, with 7% of the Democratic primary vote.

Crowley has touted his time as Milwaukee County executive, where he signed Wisconsin Act 12 and granted one of the largest property tax cuts in county history. He was also a state representative for just under two terms, stepping down to serve as county executive. 

Hong is an avid Democratic socialist and has pulled heavily among young blue voters in Wisconsin. She has served in the Assembly since 2020. 

Skeptics have raised concerns about her being too socialist for the battleground state. Among the Democratic party, though, she placed second in the WisPolitics straw poll, 4 percentage points behind Rodriguez, and first in the MU poll with 38%.

Hong is endorsed by Democratic Socialist lawmakers like Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, as well as Wisconsin legislators Reps. Angelito Tenorio, D-West Allis and Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee. 

She has sparked controversy for recently appearing on left-wing media personality Hasan Piker’s Twitch livestream. Piker is known for his controversial commentary, which includes anti-semitic remarks and once saying the United States deserved the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Hong said she would want to repeal Act 10 and improve affordable housing for students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Barnes served in the state Assembly from 2013 to 2017 before he was elected to lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2023. He ran for U.S. Senate in 2022 but narrowly lost by 1 percentage point to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.

He said he wants to expand BadgerCare, freeze utility rates and pull youth votes into elections. 

He came second-to-last in the WisPolitics straw poll, but he has strong name recognition and placed second at 16% in the recent MU poll. Although, according to the poll, he has the strongest chance among the Democratic candidates at defeating Tiffany in November.

Roys shares a similar focus with Evers — campaigning on education. She’s endorsed by the Wisconsin Education Association Council and Sens. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, Sarah Keyeski, D-Lodi and Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie.

She served in the State Assembly from 2009 to 2013 before running for the 2nd congressional district in 2012, but lost in the primary to U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan. She ran for governor in 2018, coming in third in the primary and has served in the state Senate since 2020.

She campaigns on abortion rights, fighting the Trump administration and lowering costs. While she came in third at the WisPolitics straw poll, she tied for last place in the MU poll.

Brennan served as DOA secretary from 2019 to 2022 before becoming president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. His top campaign priorities include expanding Medicaid and leveraging data center investments.

He faced recent backlash for a new ad that takes aim at all but one of the candidates, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In the ad, he targets Crowley, Hong and Barnes — the only candidates of color — and leaves out Roys, the only other white candidate.

Brennan has not seen much momentum in his campaign despite having over $350,000 cash on hand. He tied with Roys for last in the MU poll.

Rodriguez and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes, who dropped out in June, will still be on the ballot even though they suspended their campaigns.

Madison legislative districts

Five Democrats look to fill Hong’s seat in the 76th Assembly District in eastern Madison. Whoever wins the primary will face Republican Nina Chat in the general election, though the district will likely stay blue. 

Dina Nina Martinez Rutherford is a Madison alder and has the most money in this race with nearly $45,000 cash on hand. She is a transgender woman, a food service worker and small business owner campaigning on lower costs, reforming the criminal justice system and caring for Wisconsin’s elderly. She is endorsed by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Reps. Ryan Spaude, D-Ashwaubenon and Christine Sinicik, D-Milwaukee. 

Juliana Bennett previously served as a Madison alder from 2021 to 2025 and is endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America. She also has the backing of Reps. Angelito Tenorio, D-West Allis, Maureen McCarville, D-DeForest and Margaret Arney, D-Wauwatosa. Her campaign issues include raising the state minimum wage to $23, universal healthcare and increasing public school funding. 

Isaia Ben-Ami is the former chief of staff for Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Kalan Haywood, D-Milwaukee. He champions housing affordability as his top campaign priority, as well as spreading progressivism across the state. He has the backing of Haywood, neighboring district Rep. Renuka Mayadev, D-Madison and Hong Chief of Staff Nada Elmikashfi. 

Tony Castañeda is a radio host and musician who campaigns heavily against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and strict voter identification laws.

Zoe Sullivan is a journalist who previously covered environmental issues in Brazil. Her campaign focuses on LGBTQ+ healthcare access, removing the data center tax break and instating rank-choice voting in elections.

Assembly District 77, right next to the 76th and which covers UW-Madison, does not have a primary election. Incumbent Democrat Mayadev faces a challenge from Republican Jane McCormick in the general election in November. This district will also likely remain under Democratic leadership.

What’s at stake

Democrats fight to build the “trifecta” by flipping the Assembly and Senate while trying to keep the governor’s seat. Republicans have controlled the legislature since 2010. 

In November, Democrats must keep all the seats they currently have, as well as flip two Senate seats and five Assembly seats to gain a majority.

All Assembly seats are up for reelection, but only 17 of the 33 Senate seats are. The Senate seats have different maps than when they were last up for election in 2022. These maps are considered to be fairer, as the last ones were said to be some of the most gerrymandered in the country, giving Democrats a greater chance at a majority.

Evers defeated former Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 by a narrow 1 percentage point. While Democrats seek to keep a blue executive, Wisconsin hasn’t elected two governors of the same party back-to-back since the 1960s. 

This pattern can be seen in presidential races too, which experts say is because government popularity declines over time, and dissatisfied voters try to find balance and improvement from the other side. 

Still, polling shows a tight race no matter the Democratic nominee.

Other statewide races with primaries are the Democratic treasurer, Republican secretary of state and Republican lieutenant governor races. There are many voter guides with detailed responses from candidates, including Wisconsin Watch and Wisconsin Public Radio. See what will be on your ballot here.

Important absentee and registration dates can be found here. The primary is set for Aug. 11.

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